BILL NUMBER: SB 1479 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 303
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 5, 2000
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 1, 2000
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 22, 2000
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 7, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 3, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 21, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 25, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 3, 2000
INTRODUCED BY Senator Figueroa
(Coauthors: Senators Haynes and Vasconcellos)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bock and Mazzoni)
FEBRUARY 10, 2000
An act to repeal and add Section 2508 of the Business and
Professions Code and to amend Section 102415 of the Health and Safety
Code, relating to midwifery.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1479, Figueroa. Midwives: authorized practices: birth
certificates.
Under existing law, licensed midwives are required to make
specified disclosures to a client regarding the supervising physician'
s role. A violation of the licensing statutes for midwifery is a
misdemeanor.
This bill would expand the disclosures that are required to be
made to a client by a licensed midwife, and by adding to these
provisions, this bill would create new crimes and thereby would
impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law also requires, with respect to a live birth occurring
outside of a hospital, that the physician in attendance, or in the
absence thereof, either of the parents, prepare and register the
birth certificate.
This bill would require a professionally licensed midwife in
attendance at a live birth outside the hospital, where no physician
is present, to prepare and register a birth certificate. This bill
would also make these provisions applicable to live births that occur
outside a state-licensed alternative birth center, as defined.
The bill also would make legislative findings and declarations
regarding childbirth and midwives.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 2508 of the Business and Professions Code is
repealed.
SEC. 2. Section 2508 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
2508. (a) A licensed midwife shall disclose in oral and written
form to a prospective client all of the following:
(1) All of the provisions of Section 2507.
(2) If the licensed midwife does not have liability coverage for
the practice of midwifery, he or she shall disclose that fact.
(3) The specific arrangements for the transfer of care during the
prenatal period, hospital transfer during the intrapartum and
postpartum periods, and access to appropriate emergency medical
services for mother and baby if necessary.
(4) The procedure for reporting complaints to the Medical Board of
California.
(b) The disclosure shall be signed by both the licensed midwife
and the client and a copy of the disclosure shall be placed in the
client's medical record.
(c) The Medical Board of California may prescribe the form for the
written disclosure statement required to be used by a licensed
midwife under this section.
SEC. 3. Section 102415 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
102415. For live births that occur outside of a hospital or
outside of a state-licensed alternative birth center, as defined in
paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 1204, the physician in
attendance at the birth or, in the absence of a physician, the
professionally licensed midwife in attendance at the birth or, in the
absence of a physician or midwife, either one of the parents shall
be responsible for entering the information on the certificate,
securing the required signatures, and for registering the certificate
with the local registrar.
SEC. 4. The Legislature finds and declares that:
(a) Childbirth is a normal process of the human body and not a
disease.
(b) Every woman has a right to choose her birth setting from the
full range of safe options available in her community.
(c) The midwifery model of care emphasizes a commitment to
informed choice, continuity of individualized care, and sensitivity
to the emotional and spiritual aspects of childbearing, and includes
monitoring the physical, psychological, and social well-being of the
mother throughout the childbearing cycle; providing the mother with
individualized education, counseling, prenatal care, continuous
hands-on assistance during labor and delivery, and postpartum
support; minimizing technological interventions; and identifying and
referring women who require obstetrical attention.
(d) Numerous studies have associated professional midwifery care
with safety, good outcomes, and cost-effectiveness in the United
States and in other countries. California studies suggest that
low-risk women who choose a natural childbirth approach in an
out-of-hospital setting will experience as low a perinatal mortality
as low-risk women who choose a hospital birth under management of an
obstetrician, including unfavorable results for transfer from the
home to the hospital.
(e) The midwifery model of care is an important option within
comprehensive health care for women and their families and should be
a choice made available to all women who are appropriate for and
interested in home birth.
SEC. 5. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the
only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction,
eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government
Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.